"Sharknado" bombs

Alas, Ace, it would seem the idea of “Sharknado” was far more broadly entertaining than the reality, because it somehow managed to draw only a million viewers, even though it became one of the hottest trending topics on Twitter. Which is an interesting commentary on the difference between incandescent social media buzz, compared to the attentions of the far larger general audience. Social media is still a relatively small pond, in which it is possible to be a big fish (or a tornado full of big fish) without making much of an impact on the general public.

It’s also a reflection on the sarcastic nature of post-modern culture, which can have a high old time mocking something like “Sharknado” or “Snakes on a Plane,” another high-concept schlockfest that suffered a similar fate. But that doesn’t mean the subject of all the mockery is truly compelling or “popular” in the conventional sense. The “Snakes on a Plane” team was convinced it had a big hit on their hands, because everyone was talking about it… but very few of them bothered to see it.

Somewhere at this very moment, Guillermo del Toro and his financial backers are praying the same fate is not about to befall their $200 million adventure in deliriously high concepts.